Prelude to Madness
by 26letters
Summary: "He'd known Clove since she was born but they weren't close by any means. To him, she was just his friend's little sister, however something about the way she acted at 12:54 at night made him think that there could be more to her than that. " AU Clato
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So here's the first chapter, review and let me know if you want to find out what happens next!**

Clove Sevina was not in the mood to go to bed. Her eyes kept continuously and involuntarily fluttering open, disturbing her state of 'not sleep'. She sighed to herself, letting her eyelids fall closed once again as she shifted to her other side, curling up a little bit. Of course the one night she was in bed at a semi reasonable hour she was completely restless, she seemed to have that sort of luck. Her mind was filled with an abundance of 'if's' and a number of impossible scenarios, the kind that would only ever play out in her head. Within a matter of moments her eyes popped open again and she groaned to herself. She flung her head to the side in an irritated matter, glancing at the silver clock perched on her bedside table. _12:48, cool, _she thought angrily. Instead of forcing her eyes shut for the millionth time that night she propped herself up on her elbow, contemplating her options. Normally, she'd just go downstairs and have a snack or something to drink, but she was hesitant to do that as her brother Max was having a sleepover. The last thing she needed was some hungover high school boy walking in on her clad in pajamas and a messy bun scarfing down cereal at nearly one in the morning.

She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she tried to make a decision. She could always just ignore her hunger pangs, read a book maybe, perhaps she'd even test her luck at drawing just incase the middle of the night brought out an increase in creativity. As if to come to a conclusion for her, her stomach rumbled suddenly, reminding her that the last time she'd eaten was approximately six hours ago. She sighed, sitting up a little bit more in her bed, rubbing her eyes faintly as she glanced around her dark room. Her stomach made a noise again, demanding food. "Fine," she grumbled, as if to reassure it that nourishment was on the way. Swinging her legs over the edge of her queen sized bed she stood up, stretching her arms backwards before returning to a slouched over position, ambling towards the door with quiet footsteps.

She did her best to keep quiet as she flung her door open, trotting down the carpeted staircase quickly and sneakily, or so she thought. As she peered into the living room where the boys were sleeping she forced herself to bite back a laugh. Judging by the sound (which closely resembled that of a freight train) she had a sneaking suspicion that all 5 of the boys Max had over were sound asleep. Her heartbeat slowed as she was now fairly sure no one would disturb her midnight snack. She tiptoed into the kitchen and towards the refrigerator . Pulling the stainless steel door open revealed a fully stocked fridge to Clove's surprise. There was hardly ever anything she wanted to eat, but tonight she had the opportunity to choose anything she wanted.

She paused for a moment, eyeing the choices before finally selecting a vanilla yogurt from one of the clear bottom drawers. After pulling it loose from its packaging, she walked to the silverware drawer, retrieving a spoon before peeling off the lid and discarding it. With a sigh she leaned against the granite countertop, glancing out the window above the sink into the warm summer night. It was a shame she wasn't one for sneaking out, it would be all too easy, she thought to herself. Just pop out the back door and disappear into the sticky night, no one would ever know.

She was so lost in thought, imagining a braver version of herself she didn't notice a large blonde figure suddenly appear in the doorway to the hallway, leaning against the door frame.

"Clove," his deep voice rang out across the kitchen, filling every crevice of the room, startling her out of her near day dream. She whipped around quickly, placing her yogurt cup on the counter and crossing her arms instinctively over her chest.

"Who is that?" she asked suspiciously, although she thought she had a pretty good idea of who it was. The figure only laughed, stepping out form the shadows, offering no other explanation.

"Cato," she said breathlessly, rolling her eyes a bit. He let out a soft chuckle, taking another step closer to her, not that it made much of a difference, the kitchen was huge after all.

"What're you doing up this late, Clover?" he asked as he peered at her, a lazy quality to his voice. She flinched at his usage of her nickname, very few people knew it and she hadn't expected some guy that she hardly knew to use it.

"I'm a night owl," she replied, almost without hesitation. "What's your excuse?" she asked, narrowing her eyes a bit at him. Normally Clove had an easy time figuring out what someone wanted from her, but with Cato, it was different. His deep blue eyes seemed vast and unreadable and as much as she hated to admit it, no matter how hard she tried, she could not read Cato Hadley.

"I was worried there'd been an elephant invasion," he replied almost as quickly as she had, moving closer again so that they were on opposite sides of the kitchen island. "I mean...I heard _you _coming down the stairs," he said with a satisfied smirk, looking up at her, staring into her green eyes. She turned away involuntarily, uncomfortable with the way his piercing gaze made her feel vulnerable, an emotion she wasn't used to.

"Are you calling me _fat?_" she hissed, turning back around to glare at him angrily. He laughed, shaking his head faintly.

"You're not fat, and you know it." he said, rolling his eyes in reply to her.

"Thanks for that," She snapped, trying to keep her voice calm. His confidence was starting to irritate her and she'd just about had enough. She wished he would just go away so she could enjoy her yogurt and go back to sleep. He laughed coolly, leaning on the counter so he was directly across from her.

"Don't tell me it's that easy to make _the _Clover Sevina angry," he laughed, toying with her terrible habit of wearing her emotions where everyone could see them.

"I'm not angry," she replied, adding an eye roll for emphasis. "I just wish you would _go away _so I could eat in peace," she said, shooting him an icy glare.

"Well I wish I had a million dollars, but I'm not getting that any time soon," he murmured, leaning forward across the counter a little bit, rocking on his arms. She exhaled sharply, reaching for her yogurt and pretending to seem calm. He eyed her carefully, looking her up and down. He'd known Clove since she was born but they weren't close by any means. To him, she was just his friend's little sister, however something about the way she acted at 12:54 at night made him think that there could be more to her than that.

"I find it hard to believe that you have nothing better to do than eat yogurt," he said suddenly, returning his eyes to hers.

"Well what _would _you expect me to be doing?" she asked, sticking the spoon back in her mouth.  
"I don't know...Hanging out with friends or a boyfriend or _something _interesting," he shrugged, averting his gaze for the first time that night. She laughed, shaking her head as she took another bite.

"Here's the thing, you have to _have _a boyfriend to hang out with him," she replied, smiling to herself as she turned away from him towards the trashcan, tossing the now empty cup into it.

"Oh," he said, suddenly at a loss for words, a problem he never had.

"What about you?" she asked, turning back to him. "Don't you have some hot girlfriend you could be talking to, or wait," she stopped, putting her hands on her hips. "Perhaps I mean some one night stand you could be busy with?" she said with a smirk. Yes, she knew his reputation and she wasn't about to fall for his tricks. He laughed, nodding his head at her.

"You're right, hookups are more my style," he countered, flashing her a lazy smile. She sighed, standing up a little bit straighter, she was done with this conversation.

"Because anyone would have to be positively _crazy _to date you," she hissed at him, effectively letting him know she wasn't interested. With that, she pushed up and off the counter, striding past him towards the kitchen door, confidence in her step.

"Oh, and Cato?" she called in a sickeningly sweet voice as she turned around. "Don't you dare mistake me for one of your playthings," she finished before spinning on her heel, disappearing into the shroud of darkness that cloaked the hallway.

"Oh Clove," he murmured, standing up. "I don't make mistakes."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed! It meant a lot to me! Without further ado here is the next installment of the story. If you want to see another chapter, leave a review, that'll keep me writing happily! A special thanks to my friend MARTY for proofreading and helping me make this be the best it could be!**

She liked rich colors. No, not rich as in affluent or wealthy or anything like that. She was attracted to the sort of colors that seemed as if perhaps they were more than one shade, like they had many dimensions to them. The oranges that had hints of yellows and reds in them and the purples that had distinguishable reds and blues. This was precisely the logic she had used when selecting her swim suit this morning, a deep emerald green two piece with gold accents.

She cast a glance around her normally pristine beige bedroom. Clothing now lay on the ground in mountainous piles all around the room, making the floor difficult to navigate. She sighed, running a hand through her dark brown hair and scrunching her nose up as the memories from the night before came flooding back for the first time that morning. Shocked wasn't the right word how to describe how she felt about it all. Perhaps a more accurate term would be astounded or paralyzed because she felt almost like she couldn't breathe. Almost.

She wasn't precisely sure _when_ Cato Hadley had developed a fondness of messing with her, but she was more than ready for the phase to be over. The more she thought about it the more she realized she didn't know much about the blonde boy, which was strange. He was always around, he practically lived at the Sevina household and could usually be heard cracking jokes in the kitchen or moving about Max's room down the hallway. The only thing she knew for certain about Cato Hadley was that he was bad news, and she was not one to get entwined in a relationship with someone like that.

She shook her head faintly to clear her mind of thoughts, a task that could not be solved by a simple change of topics. With a sigh, she trotted back towards her large closet, which had already been throughly picked through previously that morning, in search of something suitable to put over her suit. After several moments of contemplation, she finally decided upon a sheer cover up made of thin gold fabric adorned with matching beads. Satisfied with her selection, she slid on the wispy dress before glancing at herself in the full length mirror on the opposite wall.

She looked good, maybe that was confidence or the fact that she had a realistic concept of beauty, she wasn't sure which but it didn't matter anyways. She tilted her head to the side and pulled at the fabric covering her waist, adjusting it until it was just right. Her eyes travelled up her slim body back to her face. She smiled softly at her reflection feeling oddly calm and strangely confident.

It was August 22nd, to which one could say _what makes it any different from August 21st or August 20th or any other August day for that matter_, but that was a loaded question. For starters, it was the afternoon of the annual upperclassmen cook out, but you could also say that it was the day before the first day of school, of Clove's Junior year. Junior. The word still tasted odd in her mouth like a new food or a maybe more accurate, like water from a strange tap. Familiar, but not quite right. She bit her lower lip, turning away from her own reflection and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

She glanced at her clock, her mind slowly making it's way back to the real world. It was 1:27, she had approximately 3 minutes until her best friend Finnick would be at her house, but that was assuming he was on time, which he never was. She laughed to herself, crossing the wooden floors of her bedroom to the bay window which was fitted with a window seat. Sliding onto the cushion she glanced out the window, observing her street, or rather the front yard of her house and the street in the distance. She couldn't really call her house a house either, it was more of a mansion, but that sounded cocky. Then again, she was just going off of what other people had said, all of her friends and everyone else she knew lived in the same sort of house, it was all she had ever known. She pulled her knees up to her chest contemplating what it would be like to live in a smaller house, one where the rooms were close together. She shivered at the thought, she already didn't get along with Max and living in close quarters with him was something she wasn't sure she could bear. Sharing a bathroom with a soon to be 18 year old was bad enough, the last thing she needed was to be able to hear him snoring in her own bedroom.

She groaned to herself at the very thought just as a familiar black BMW pulled up noiselessly out front. She bolted upright, snapping out of her state of wonderment, standing up and grabbing a canvas tote bag which she'd previously set out on her bed. As she jogged down the stairs she began to regret cramming so many things into her bag. From magazines to nail polish, she had it all. _You never know when you might get thirsty, _she thought to herself, justifying her thermos of tea.

"See you soon!" She called to Max as she slid out the door. Her parents were out of town, getting back tonight actually. Not in a million years would they have been okay with the amount of drinking the boys had surely done last night. She flew past the fountain in her front yard swiftly, hoping that Finnick hadn't had a chance to get out yet, she didn't want to inconvenience him with the long walk from the street to the house...Er mansion.

She was pleased to see that he was still sitting in his car and appeared to be texting when she got there. She swung open the passenger's side door without a moment's hesitation, climbing into the black leather seat and pulling on her seat belt before setting her tote on the floor of the car.

"Hey." she said, a little out of breath from the run from the house to the car.

"Hey!" he replied as he set down his phone on the car console, flashing her a wide grin. She rolled her eyes with a smile, placing her elbow on the spot where the interior of the car met the window. With a soft sigh, Finnick's hand trailed from the steering wheel down to the gear shift, moving it from 'park' to 'drive'.

Clove glanced down, running her fingers over her legs softly, examining the fabric for any tiny imperfections as Finnick maneuvered down the winding streets. The beach was only a 15 minute drive, one of the many perks of living in the Beverly Hills area.

To Clove's surprised, suddenly and without warning a voice sounded from the back of the car, one that didn't belong to Clove, Finnick, or the radio. As the voice cleared it's throat, she whirled around, in the back her mind she knew there was no way a serial killer was hiding in the back of Finnick's car, but for a moment, her more primal brain took over. She gasped inwardly as she realized that the voice was in fact not a mass murder but something much, much worse.

"Marvel." She murmured the name of her ex-boyfriend in a barely audible voice, just loud enough for her to hear.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Whhaaaat?! You guys are fabulous! Thanks for much for the faves, follows, and reviews! I honestly wasn't expecting this, thank you to the moon and back! Keep the reviews coming, they inspire to to update quicker ;) It's also important to note that this chapter is heavily based off a roleplay, so shout out to my amazing RP buddy for allowing me to take things from it and for being one of the best roleplayers of all time. Thank you oodles and bunches! Oh, and happy NATIONAL CLATO DAY! :)**

He looked the same as he did the last time she saw him, which had been in her cruelest nightmares. His curly chestnut hair had obviously been styled endlessly, there's no way it had fallen like that on its own, she knew that for certain. She peered at the boy over the leather enveloped head rest, wondering why on earth Finnick had agreed to give him a ride, knowing she'd be tagging along too. She sighed, chewing on her lower lip as she spun back around in her seat. It wasn't like she and Marvel had ended in a horrific manor, but she thought Finnick would at least have the common sense to not invite her ex-boyfriend along, but obviously not.

As if reading her mind, the copper haired boy turned to her, an apologetic look on his face and a genuine sadness in his his eyes. "Marvel had no other way to get to the party ..." he trailed off knowing better than anyone that once Clove was angry, there was no changing her mind. She let out a "humph" and shot Finnick a pointed glare, letting him know that she wasn't going to forgive him _that _easily. She hunkered down in her seat, praying to god that neither of the two boys would say anything so they could just ride in silence to the beach. Of course, that's not what happened.

"So..." Marvel started, leaning forward in his seat, obviously eager for conversation. Clove rolled her eyes, not really caring at this point whether or not he could see her in one of the rearview mirrors as she crossed her arms over her chest, shaking her head faintly.

"Are you excited to go back to school?" Finnick asked hesitantly, glancing up in the mirror to look back at Marvel.

"Yeah," he replied almost instantly. "I'm excited for Junior year, upperclassmen bitches." he said with a melodic laugh as he smirked to himself. As a smile pulled at the corner of Finnick's lips, she had to resist the urge to smack him. _That wasn't even funny! _She thought to herself coldly, frowning inwardly on as the conversation went on.

"It's weird, I feel like we were just freshmen," Finnick commented, leaning forward to check around a corner before pulling onto another road.

"Some of us still act like freshmen," she snapped, fixing her eyes on the street ahead of them. At that, the car went uncomfortably quiet, or rather, comfortably silent in her opinion. She closed her eyes, glad for the lapse in conversation as the group pulled into the sandy parking lot above the beach. As Finnick put the car in park her eyes fluttered open once again, glancing around she realized that they were some of the last ones there, not that she was complaining. She undid her seatbelt swiftly, climbing out of the car, dragging her tote bag behind her. Not waiting for Finnick, (or Marvel for that matter) she took off towards the beach, eager to join the festivities. Instead of heading towards the pack of predominately senior boys hanging out by the music, she walked a little ways a way off before pulling a purple towel personalized with her initials from her bag and spreading it out in front of her. With a sigh, she collapsed to the ground, laying on her stomach amongst the other girls tanning and reading on the beach. The sun felt hot, yet good on her back as she reached for a glossy magazine from her bag and pulled on her designer sunglasses. Propping her head up with her hand, she flipped through the newest edition of _Vogue, _inspecting the hair and fashion choices carefully. When the sun began to began to feel too hot on her neck, she tugged a green floppy hat from her bag out from underneath her thermos of tea. Finally content, she closed her eyes, listening to the music that blared from 50 feet away.

Not that she would admit it, but she was still shaken from her encounter with Marvel. She'd been doing so well, not thinking about him...She clenched and unclenched her fists. No, she wasn't to let him ruin her day, today was about having fun, and that was precisely intended on doing.

In that moment, the beach erupted in cheers for some unknown reason, but she didn't bother to turn around and see why. Rolling her eyes, she folded her arms over her magazine, laying her head down peacefully on top of them. A spilt second later (or perhaps it was less than a split second. Maybe a more accurate measurement would be the interval between the seconds) she felt a pair of strong hands wrap around her waist, lifting her up. At first she was startled, highly alarmed but upon realizing who the mystery abductor was, she was enraged instead.

"_Cato Hadley!" _she screeched in a high pitched voice, writhing and doing her best to escape his grasp as he sprinted towards the water. It was no use, after all, she was tiny and he was the quarterback of the football team, no matter how she squirmed she could not free herself. It also didn't helped that people seemed to disappear into thin air as he ran, not wanting to get in his way. "If you get me wet I swear to god I'll-"

"You'll what?" he laughed, already wading into the water as people cheered and laughed in the distance.

"Kill you!" she screamed hysterically as he got into the water up to his waist. Cato just laughed, moving out a bit farther before he tossed her in roughly. Tumbling into the salty water, she barely had enough time to shut her eyes and close her mouth. Turning around, he pumped his fist triumphantly, sending the crowd into a chorus of frenzied cheers to which his only reply was a wink. Turning around, he looked at her smugly, a victorious expression on his face.

"You fowl _asshole!" _were the first words out of her mouth as she resurfaced, seething. "Do you know how much this cost?"she howled, pulling the now soaking wet coverup over her head and tossing it at his face. As the sopping material made contact, she leapt forward at him, causing him to lose his balance, sending him stumbling backwards just as a wave washed over the two. The upperclassmen on the beach all share a laugh at the strange sight, it wasn't common for someone to be brave enough (or strong enough for that matter) to take on Cato Hadley.

"Overreact much?" Cato asked, shaking the water from his hair as he regained his composure, standing up straight once again.

"No!" she yelled, waving her arms for emphasis. "You fucking threw me in the ocean and got me _soaking _wet, I am not overreacting!" she hissed, vaguely aware of the possibility that she was taking all her anger over Marvel out on him.

"It's a coverup," he pointed out, rolling his eyes. "Can't you just...I don't know, wash it?" She shot him a glare, putting her hands on her hips.

"Do you see my coverup?" she asked, looking around for a sign of the gold fabric. "Because I don't. And you can't wash something that's lost in the ocean _dumbass."_ she said, raising her voice again. She let out a frustrated scream as he only laughed in reply, shaking his head, storming past him towards the shore.

"You owe me a new coverup," she added, turning back to him. "Or I'll ruin you." Before she could turn away, he was taking a step closer to her, a dangerous look in his eyes.

"Is that a threat Sevina?" he asked with a cruel laugh. "Besides, I think you're the one in a dangerous position, couldn't even get out of my arms and you're supposed to be the most athletic girl in the school." he reminded her, a smirk dancing across his face as he turned away. "You can get your own damn coverup." he added, calling to her over his shoulder.

"I'll tell everyone you gave Glimmer Fairbain an STD." she hissed gleefully, folding her arms subconsciously over her chest as he spun back around. "No one would question it, you have enough one night stands for it to be true." she added with a snarky laugh. "Plus I'm positive I can get Glimmer to go along with it considering how badly you screwed her over."

"Yeah, I'm sure Glimmer will be really interested in letting the whole school know she has the syph." He said, pointing out the hole in her plan.

"I think I'll go ask her know." Clove replied, a hardened look in her eyes as she walked past him, purposefully knocking him with her shoulder.

"Fine," he called, catching up with her again. "I'll buy your damn coverup." she turned back around to face him, a satisfied smirk that quickly dissipated at the next thing he said. Leaning down to whisper in her ear, he brushed her hair to the other side of her neck. "I just think it's a little bit embarrassing that you have to lie to get what you want," he murmured quietly. For a half a second, her smirk fell as she wondered to herself if that was true.

"This isn't about a stupid coverup." she said finally, slapping his hand away. "This is about bringing you down, because once you're not Mr. Popular, you're just some asshole who can throw a football and enjoys getting laid." He balked at her, his mouth falling open before his blank expression was replaced with a dark one.

"What's your problem?" he growled, venom lacing his voice. "Oh wait, let me guess. You're just sour over the fact that no one wants to hook up with _you." _ he muttered smugly. "Because no one wants wants a crazy controlling bitch." She pulled away from him sharply, closing her eyes. That was low, even for him.

"Besides," he murmured. "Two can play at that game. You're not the only one that possesses a talent for spreading rumors." He glanced over at Clove, her obvious reactions only fueled him more. "It would be easy...Almost _too _easy for me to tell everyone the _real _reason you and Marvel broke up." he spat, twirling a strand of her hair on his finger.

"We broke up because I dumped him." she replied quickly.

"Mm but you and I _both_ know that's not the whole story." he whispers into her ear, taunting her with the one secret about Clove Sevina that no one knows. She froze, looking at the ground, er water, as she felt her face fall. He wouldn't...would he?

"Fine," she said after a moment of thought, swatting him away for the second time. "Go ahead, make yourself look like an even bigger douchebag. In the mean time I think I'll tell everyone how despite attending therapy, you still can't shake your habit of hooking up with at least one girl a week. Just like your father." She spat, a cruel smile pulling at the corners of her lips. At that, his heart plummeted to the bottom of his stomach, no one..._no one _was supposed to know that, but he pretended to act like it was no big deal.

"Like that's a secret." he said, shaking his head. "Everyone knows I can have any girl I want, whenever I want. Including _you." _he muttered, an angry quality to his voice. "You think you're so special, don't you?" he asked, shaking his head. "I happen to know the reason you broke it off with Marvel is because he cheated on you with Glimmer because you wouldn't put out." There, he'd said it finally, the truth was out, and it tasted like victory. "Mark my words Clove Sevina, if I want you, I'll have you."

Shoving him away from her, she replied almost immediately. "Fuck off Hadley, not every girl wants to be your hookup of the night, especially not me." she said viciously, narrowing her eyes at him.

"This is all theoretical," he reminded her. "I, along with the rest of the male population, do not want you. Like I said earlier, no one wants a crazy controlling bitch. At least someone wants me, no one could ever love you." She didn't even turn around, already stomping back towards the beach. Cato Hadley had managed to illuminate her one fear. Clove Sevina was terrified that no one would ever want her, and that was truly frightening.

**A/N: Another HUGE thanks to my roleplay buddy, you're the bomb!**


	4. Chapter 4

**_A/N: Random person I met on omegle who said they liked my story, this is for you. Hey guys, *shuffles feet awkwardly* I'm so so sorry it's been so long, I've been on a couple vacations and I've just been really busy, please forgive me, it won't happen again. If you'd be interested in seeing more of this story, please PLEASE review, I can't stress enough how important that is. As always, I love you guys, keep on keepin' on. _**

6 AM was approximately four hours earlier than she would have been okay with being up. Clove always questioned herself in the morning, wondering if getting up two hours before the first bell even rang to do her hair and makeup was worth it. In the end she always decided that it paid off when she stepped onto school grounds feeling (and looking) like one of the girls from her prized copies of _Vogue. _

Unfortunately, as Clove's alarm clock went off at precisely 6:00 like it did every school day, she found herself with a lack of motivation to even get out of bed. She groaned to herself, her hand coming down sharply on top of the clock, effectively silencing it with a thud. She let her arm fall back down onto her mattress as she pulled her knees up to her chest, cuddling up under the blankets in a futile attempt to keep warm. Her father always kept their house much too cold for her liking which often meant sleeping in sweats, even in the middle of the summer. She sighed, glancing back over at the clock which now read 6:07 in large red obnoxious numbers. She suddenly found herself wishing that minutes in the morning went as slow as microwave minutes and that she could just 11:11 wish away school but she had come to understand that the world was at an imbalance and that sometimes even Clove Sevina did not get what she wanted.

With an aggravated sigh, she flung back the covers, letting the icy air of her bedroom hit her cotton cloaked body as she swung her sock covered feet over the edge of her memory foam bed. She arched her back slowly as she reached up, pulling her hair loose from its bun on the top of her head. Her dark hair fell in a tangled manner over her shoulders while she raised her arms above above her head, stretching out her limbs. With a yawn, she lowered her arms to her side, slipping them into her sweat pant's pockets. She then shuffled across the hardwood floors of her bedroom towards her closet, which was not so conveniently located on the opposite side of the room.

She mentally cursed herself for not picking her outfit the night before, she'd just been so tired, she hadn't been thinking straight. Now she'd have to waste her precious moments trying to decide on something to wear and that was truly a tragedy. Biting her bottom lip, she flicked her finger across the light switch that controlled the light in her closet revealing an abundance of fabrics and colors, all neatly organized in rainbow order. A calming sense washed over her at the presence of order and structure, things she desperately craved in her everyday routine.

She took a tentative step into the carpeted room, breathing in the smell of fabric softener and dust and scanning the hanging clothing with a critical eye. She quickly decided that she wanted to wear a dress, it was too warm for pants and she was classier than wearing shorts on the first day. She took another step forward, inspecting the section in the back of her closet where the dresses were kept (rainbow organized of course). She chewed on her thumbnail as her eyes landed on a lacey royal blue dress with a mid length skirt. She reached forward, pulling it loose from its hanger, holding it up to her body. She rubbed the fabric between her index and middle fingers as she looked over the top half. After a few more moments of deep contemplation, she came to the conclusion that the dress would be a good pick. She let her pajamas fall to the floor before pulling the dress on over her head, adjusting the straps so it fit correctly. Satisfied, she took a step back and turned towards the mirrored wall on her left to see how she looked. Ignoring the fact that her hair was still a rat's nest and her makeup wasn't done, she thought she looked good, better than good actually. She bit her bottom lip, rocking once on her heels before turning towards her bathroom. She swiftly reached for her hair brush, taking it in her hands before running it through her long dark hair. She frowned as she pulled it through the abundance of knots, her hand tightening around the handle. She raised her eyes, watching herself in the mirror as she lowered the hairbrush and set it back on the counter before finger combing her hair. Her naturally straight hair hung limply across her shoulders the same way she'd allowed it to do all summer long. A sigh escaped her lips as she reached under her granite countertop, her hand wandering across the bins under her sink until her fingertips brushed across a familiar device. She smiled a bit, pulling the curling iron up, plugging it into the wall socket in the blink of an eye as she shifted her weight to her other leg, tapping her fingers impatiently on the counter while she waited for the curling iron to heat up.

Approximately 5-6 minutes later, the barrel was hot to the touch and Clove set to work. Curling section by section carefully, she gave each strand enough heat to transform the straight pieces into loose rings.

The transformation from her bare face and boring hair to a flawless and put together look took until nearly 7:30 (which was to be expected). An assortment of intricately arranged brown eyeshadows adorned her eyelids, pale pink blush sat upon her cheeks, and her lips were coated in a nude/rose color. She was happy with the way she looked, or as happy as she would ever be.

The thing about Clove was that she was never truly pleased, not with others, or herself. There seemed to always be some fatal flaw that kept her from being perfectly content. Enjoyment was something she had trouble gathering from her day to day life thanks to the plethora of tiny imperfections and defects that riddled the world around her.

Ignoring the fact that one eye's liner was (nearly) undetectably thicker than the other, she grabbed the black backpack she'd selected weeks ago for the upcoming year and headed out of her bedroom. She cast a fugacious glance backwards, already looking forward to returning to the room later that day as she shut the door behind herself.

After procuring a rather small breakfast, she climbed into her faint turquoise convertible Bentley, sinking down in the cream leather seats while sending off a few texts, her father's 'no texting while driving' speech echoing in the back of her mind as her fingers flew across the virtual keyboard. . After pulling on her seatbelt, she crammed her keys into the ignition, her keychain jangling against the side of the car as she switched into reverse, backing out of her garage and onto the stone driveway to the home.

The wind danced through her hair as she drove down the familiar paved streets towards Meridian High School, already dreading the boring first day that would undoubtedly be filled with lectures on rules and syllabuses.

She chewed on her lower lip as she pulled into the loop directly outside Meridian, already having to dodge ignorant Freshmen who hadn't yet learned that walking through the upperclassman lot was strictly prohibited (Or rather, _highly frowned upon). _She inched into a park spot, rolling her eyes as a group of the Senior basketball players darted in front of her chair, jeering at and harassing a Sophomore boy who'd thought it was a good idea to walk by himself.

"Out of the way..._assholes_," she called, the last word inaudible as she slammed on the breaks to avoid mowing over the boys, irritation seeping into her voice. She'd anticipated that it would be a bad day, but she hadn't been expecting to deal with 17 year old males acting like children.

"Fuck you, Sevina," a tall, deep voiced boy shouted from the middle of the group, eliciting a round of laughter from the others. She narrowed her eyes at the boy in response, pressing down a little harder on the brakes.

"You wish," she laughed coyly, pulling off her seat belt and stepping out of the car as the boys "ooo'd over her comeback. The boy who'd spoken earlier (who happened to be named Jason) merely shook his head, laughing.

"Let me know when you stop being a prude, we can talk then," he smirked, exchanging fist bumps with the other guys as they crossed the parking lot to the front doors.

She exhaled sharply, outwardly brushing off the comment as she grabbed her bag from the passenger's side and began the quick trek from the upperclassman lot to the front doors.

She tried to focus on the sound of her shoes on the pavement as she pulled her schedule up on her phone, examining the room number of her first period class. "A233," she muttered under her breath, looking up to pull the large glass front door open and slide inside.

She knew immediately that her class was upstairs and in the A wing, but other than that, she'd have to do a bit of searching. She slipped her phone back into her bag and sighed, lifting her head up and looking around the sunlit hallway that was already filled with noisy students. She noted as she climbed the stairs in the A rotunda that it smelled of fresh paint and newly vacuumed carpet, two things that made her feel a bit more relaxed. She was beginning to think that the day would be more aggravating than she had originally planned, after all she hadn't even seen any of her friends yet. As she located A233, she let out a slow breath, hoping that perhaps Glimmer or Jacqueline would be in her Economics class.

Her eyes searched through the sea of unfamiliar faces, carefully trying to detect a friend or at least an acquaintance. However she had no such luck, with all the seats mostly taken, she was fairly sure that she might actually have to brave Economics on her own. She groaned inwardly, choosing a seat next to a large, sweaty boy who reeked of Axe body spray and another empty seat, saying a quick prayer in her head that it would remain vacant. She used her final moments before the bell rang to examine her surroundings in an attempt to familiarize herself with the room she'd be spending the following semester in.

Just like she'd thought, the bell rang shortly after and a thin, frail older woman came trotting in.

"Hello class," she started, trying to get her voice heard over the noisy kids. Clove sat up a little straighter, staring intently at her.

"Kids, children...Could you all jus-" her scratchy voice was drowned out completely as the wooden door of the classroom was ripped wide open again, revealing a smirking Cato Hadley.

"You're late," the woman muttered, glaring over the tops of her glasses at the tall blond as Clove sank down lower in her seat.

"Yeah, sorry about that," Cato shrugged, barely glancing at the teacher as his eyes scanned the room, quickly landing on Clove's.

"Could you just-" she let out a string of profanities, pushing her glasses up higher on her nose. "Sit down," she muttered, putting her hands on her hips as she walked to the back of the room with the intent of reprimanding a herd of particularly loud males.

Without taking his eyes off of her, Cato sauntered down the aisles of desks, nearing the brunette with an amused look in his eyes. "Hey, can I ask you a question?" he asked, his bag slung around his shoulders.

"You just did, fucker," she muttered without hesitation, looking away. He laughed a little bit, running a hand through his hair.

"Is anyone sitting here?" he tried again, gesturing towards the empty seat beside her. She raised her eyes back to him, staring at him angrily.

"No," she said simply, tapping her fingers on her knee.

"All I needed to know," he shrugged, sliding into the seat beside her, letting his bag fall to the ground. She avoided eye contact, folding her arms across her chest as she played with the lose plastic rim of the desk.

"So uh, you going to the game Friday?" he asked suddenly, looking over at her, his chest rising and falling quickly as if he'd just run somewhere.

"Cut the small talk, Cato," she said sharply, rolling her eyes. "You don't care if I'm going to the game, just say something rude to me and we'll call it a day, kay?" she snapped, looking over at him. Cato laughed, raising his hands up in mock surrender as Clove narrowed her eyes at him.

"Sorry, sorry," he chuckled, clearly amused. "Just checking to see if you were going to come see me play," he said, raising an eyebrow.

"Do you want me to?" she countered, quirking an eyebrow back.

"Couldn't care less," he said in a lazy voice, trying to mask the fact that he really did want her to come.

"I'll think about it," she shrugged, looking straight ahead. "Maybe if I have nothing better to do."

"See you there, Princess," he smirked, very well aware of the fact that Clove Sevina was just like the others, she'd never be able to stay away.


End file.
